• Norwood Forum

Clean Air

It was back in 2019 that Norwood Forum first got involved in Clean Air projects and you can find all of that knowledge and experience lower down on this page.
Latest news and updates will be added to the top of this page in date order.

26 January 2025
AWAIR - realtime air quality displays for everyone
A year ago we helped The Social Innovation Partnership (TSIP) find a venue to host a community workshop for Gipsy Hill residents to come together and design an air pollution monitor project for their local area. TSIP are working with Imperial College, Breathe London and funded by Impact on Urban Health to focus on the impact of Air Pollution on local people and what learning and solutions can be attained. This project is running in Gipsy Hill/LB Lambeth, Peckham/LB Southwark, and White City/LB Hammersmith & Fulham. 

Gipsy Hill was selected as Lambeth’s ward for the display monitors due to its unique combination of challenges. It is one of the top wards in the borough for several key factors:

  • High Health Risks: Gipsy Hill ranks among the highest for both all cancers and emergency hospital admissions. Poor air quality is directly linked to these outcomes, making it a priority area for intervention.
  • Digital Exclusion: A high percentage of Gipsy Hill residents lack digital access or literacy, meaning they are less likely to benefit from traditional online air quality information. By installing outdoor air quality displays, we can provide vital environmental data directly to the community without relying on digital means.
  • ​Mixed Environment: Gipsy Hill includes residential areas, schools, and parks, allowing the AWAIR project to assess and display air quality differences across different types of spaces.

Those air monitors are now installed outside Gipsy Hill station, with others to follow. Reasons for why each location was selected varied per resident, but common themes included high pedestrian footfall traffic, children friendly areas, and accessible for residents to see and engage with.

You can read all about the project here
And follow this link to suggest new locations for displays, take part in research and ways you can make a difference here
This is what the realtime air quality display monitor and explanation panel looks like:
 

24 January 2025
Clean Air Night
Wednesday 22 January 2025, was Clean Air Night, when Lambeth Council looked to spark a conversation about the health harms of air pollution from wood burning in the borough. Norwood Forum in our partnership with Mums for Lungs have already featured this story in our October newsletter last year.

  • Learn the facts about wood burning and how it harms your health and the planet by visiting the Clean Air Hub and exploring #CleanAirNight
  • Learn more about what air pollution is, how it affects your health and what you can do to protect yourself and others. Learn more
  • Get your personalised Clean Air Action Plan to help reduce your exposure to air pollution. Get your Clean Air Planner here

June 2019
In 2017 Norwood Forum and our colleagues at Norwood Action Group collaborated to form the Norwood Planning Assembly with the aim to produce and maintain a Neighbourhood Development Plan, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011. A large amount of work went into this project from a small dedicated group of volunteers. Other Forums in Lambeth were doing the same. Everyone faced huge challenges and only one Forum managed to get their Neighbourhood Development Plan over the line with an approval referendum in 2019. You can read the plan by South Bank and Waterloo Neighbours (SoWN) here.

Whilst in Norwood we did not manage to reach the referendum stage, the work that was carried out continues to be enormously useful in many ways, not least in informing the community SADPD campaign, and the Air Quality Citizens Science Project carried out in 2019 also provides quality benchmark data to feed into our Clean Air knowledge.

Air Quality Citizens Science Project - final report from the Norwood Planning Assembly
'As part of our evidence gathering to support our emerging Green Town Plan policies on air pollution, we conducted a “citizens science experiment” to measure levels of Nitrous Oxide around our Neighbourhood. The results are now in and shown in the map and spreadsheet below.

The survey was conducted between 8 and 22 May 2019 at 15 locations across Norwood. This included a mix of main traffic routes, residential streets and Norwood Park.
The results demonstrate potential illegal levels of Nitrous Oxide along main roads within Norwood including Knights Hill, Norwood Road, the Tulse Hill Gyratory and Thurlow Park Road. While there would need to be a much longer period of monitoring to be conclusive, they do show that there is a potential big issue with air pollution in the area, and should help frame our policies and arguments – not least lobbying the Council and TfL to help make improvements to our neighbourhood.
The Citizens Science Experiment is part of a wider initiative by London Sustainability Exchange.'